The subject application is directed generally to enhancement of electronic images, and is particularly directed to detection of images inclusive of a fog scene component.
Many images that are captured, particularly photographic images, include some or all of an associated scene having fog associated with it. Such a fog tends to soften or obscure some or all of the underlying image. Fog may be attributed to natural occurring characteristics of a captured scene, such as when taken at dusk, during an overcast day, or while it is raining. Still other fog characteristics may be attributed to properties of photosensitive emulsions, positioning of illumination sources, or extraneous light. Fog in an image may also be introduced by media storage considerations, such as by chemical interaction, passage of time, exposure to heat, and the like.
Many captured images are either captured as digital images, such as with a digital camera. Others are captured in a more traditional manner, such as with photographic film. With film, digitization is frequently employed to facilitate long term storage to readily allow transmission or printing. In either situation, electronic images are obtained which have fog scene information encoded therein, and which fog scene information will ultimately work to obscure or degrade resultant images that are rendered or displayed.
Earlier systems sought to detect fog scenes, and solutions have been isolated which work on color images. Such systems detect disparities between averages of components, such as red, green, and blue color planes.